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Informist, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026

NEW DELHI – Gujarat International Finance Tec-City International Financial Services Centres Authority sanctioned $54.02 billion under the Reserve Bank of India's special swap facility for Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank) deposits, of which approximately $52.82 billion has already been disbursed, the finance ministry said in a press release late Wednesday.

"The scale-up has been particularly rapid in recent weeks, with aggregate sanctions increasing from $28.60 billion on August 14 to $37.26 billion on August 21 and further to $54.02 billion by August 31, 2026," it said. The over $54 billion FCNR(B) deposits comprise over 42% of the total deposits mobilised under the central bank's swap facility. As per latest data, the FCNR(B) swap window garnered $127.23 billion of inflows, of which a whopping $54.38 billion were received in the final 10 days of the scheme.

In a bid to boost inflows, the RBI in June announced a slew of foreign capital measures. The biggest crowd puller was the central bank's concessional swap window where it said it will bear the hedging costs of banks converting capital raised through mobilising three- to five-year FCNR(B) deposits. Following strong response, the central bank had brought forward its deadline to mobilise deposits under the scheme by a month to Aug. 31 from Sept. 30 earlier.

Further, during April to August, international banking units at GIFT-IFSC disbursed $11.62 billion of External Commercial Borrowings. Monthly External Commercial Borrowings disbursements increased from $1.54 billion in April to $3.54 billion in August, it said. Additionally, Indian banks have raised $11.12 billion through bond listings on IFSC exchanges during April to August, of which bonds totalling to $9.17 billion were listed between July and August, it added. 

The RBI also announced a swap facility for External Commercial Borrowings and overseas foreign currency borrowing, which will remain open up to Jan. 15, 2027, for eligible External Commercial Borrowings drawdowns made and overseas foreign currency borrowing flows received up to Dec. 31. As per latest data, banks mobilised overseas foreign currency borrowings worth $5.26 billion under the swap faciltiy as of Monday while external commercial borrowings by public sector undertakings brought in $3.89 billion under the facility. 

The finance ministry said that broad-based participation of domestic and international banks underscores the depth and capability of the banking ecosystem at GIFT-IFSC. "The 20 participating IBUs (international banking units) include leading Indian banks as well as foreign banks, with individual IBUs recording substantial sanctions and disbursements under the facility," it added.

It also highlighted that the performance of the international banking units under the FCNR(B) swap facility represents a significant demonstration of the ability of GIFT-IFSC to connect banking units with global sources of foreign currency liquidity and efficiently channel international capital towards India.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had earlier directed managing directors and chief executive officers of public sector banks to leverage the financial services ecosystem and institutional infrastructure available at GIFT-IFSC for effective implementation of the RBI's swap facilities for FCNR(B) deposits and External Commercial Borrowings.

The strong response also reflects the ability of the GIFT-IFSC ecosystem to facilitate engagement with international markets and overseas investors, complementing India's broader efforts to strengthen foreign exchange inflows, the ministry said. It is observed that IBUs at GIFT-IFSC are being utilised to leverage fund mobilisation from multiple jurisdictions, including the UK, the US, Mexico, West Asia, Hong Kong, Singapore and certain African countries, it added.

"The mobilisation and deployment of over $52 billion under the FCNR(B) swap facility, alongside strong ECB activity by IBUs in GIFT IFSC and international bond listings at IFSC Exchanges, demonstrate that GIFT-IFSC is increasingly serving as an effective bridge between global pools of capital and India's financing needs," K. Rajaraman, Chairperson, IFSCA, was quoted as saying in the press release.  End

US$1 = INR 94.47

Reported by Pratiksha

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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